End of an Era: Edge Zones Closes Its Wynwood Gallery

As we enter 2012, things will feel different in the Wynwood Arts District. Most things will look the same, but there will be one establishment in particular we'll miss. The nonprofit Edge Zones on NE 25th recently announced the end of its run as a gallery.

The Edge Zones entity itself is not going anywhere, though. Opened in 2003, Edge Zones was created to support ideas, people, and projects -- not to be held to the constraints of a single building or space. Founded by artist Charo Oquet, Edge Zones had a mission to foster artistic ties between Miami and the Caribbean. Times are tough for gallery owners, and the economic market has an increasing chokehold on their success, but that's not stopping Edge Zones from staying true to its initial purpose -- to help artists, both locally and abroad, in the development of their careers.

We spoke with director and interdisciplinary artist Charo Oquet for a look at its past as a forward-thinking gallery and its bright future as an international exchange project.

Edge Zones founder Charo Oquet

New Times: Why is the space closing?

Charo Oquet: We basically just evaluated the current economic circumstances and what

it was exactly we were doing in Wynwood. We tried to rethink our

strategy in compliance with what would best serve our mission, and we

just didn't feel that it was what we should be doing anymore. We had a

good run and a great location, but at the same time, the way Wynwood is

developing and the direction it's going in, I think it's turned into

something that in a sense we didn't feel so much a part of.

Has the popularity gained by Art Basel and the Wynwood art community influenced this other direction you're looking to go in?

To a certain degree, yes. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not criticizing the

popularity it's gained. I think it's a good thing that art has become so

popular and that a lot of people are enjoying it and exposing themselves

to it. At the same time, I don't think it can sustain the amount of

galleries that are currently there. I think the kind of work that we're

representing is not necessarily kind of "fun" -- it's more for period art

lovers and people who really are interested in what's going on, rather

than just the party.

Although this whole party scene has been really

good for the populists, I do think it's been really negative for the

true collectors. Our audience is not even necessarily true collectors,

but people who are really interested in art in terms of what's going on

with current art and the development of it. If you're not into the party

scene, then you're sort of left out, and I think our audience has shrunk

because of it.

We also weren't really satisfied. I, myself, felt under

the pressure and in need of a small break from the gallery life in order

to rethink where we should really be working and what other areas in

Miami we could help develop their art community.

What would you say were Edge Zones' greatest accomplishments?

The creation of a platform that took risks at the time that

it did, and to actually fuel the development of Wynwood. When we were

there, we had this enormous, three-story building, and because we had this

incredible space, we were able to do very large installations, have huge

bands and huge crowds. It was fun, it was open, we were able to take

risks because we weren't necessarily paying rent, and things were just

different at the time.

Also, one of the important aspects of our mission

was to link with the Caribbean communities around us, and we succeeded

thanks to international exchange projects that we plan to continue as an

organization. We were also among the first to make prints in Miami, and

with artists that weren't necessarily well known. We started printing in

2005 through 2008. After us, Gean Moreno also started doing the print

thing, but we can say that were the first to start that.

We were also

always very community-centric. Everyone pitched in and helped each other,

whether it was by putting something together or making food. Because of

our democratic nature, we were able to help a lot of artists launch

their careers, and not only nationally, but internationally as well. I

can name a whole lot of people [for whom] we were very influential in the

development of their work internationally, and I think we set off a lot

of the international projects. When we all started to go to art fairs

around 2004, there weren't really that many people going to Art Basel or

going to art crawls -- we were actually in the forefront of that, and we

actually participated in them, not just as a vessel.

We've also helped

launch the careers of many international artists. We did a parallel

exhibition that brought a lot of people to the Dominican Republic. We've